Does Density Matter? The Significance of Comparative Historical Variation in Unionization

Abstract

This article reviews the variations in aggregate union density in fifteen industrialized societies over the period 1960-2000. Drawing critically on a range of literatures, it argues that density is a valuable if imperfect expression of the weight of the infrastructure of joint regulation. Whilst density levels cannot express the character or anatomy of this regulation, they broadly depict the constraints imposed on managerial prerogative by routinized joint regulation.